EFFECTS OF ALTERNATIVE ACREAGE RESTRICTION PROVISIONS ON ALABAMA COTTON FARMS

The 1985 Farm Bill departs from recent farm bills in moving toward more restrictive acreage control. The change from a two- to a five-year average in calculating base acreage and enforcement of limited cross-compliance appear to significantly alter crop mix decisions on representative Alabama cotton farms.Political Economy,

Candidate risks indicators for bipolar disorder:early intervention opportunities in high-risk youth

Background: Psychiatric illnesses like bipolar disorder are increasingly understood to be neurodevelopmental disorders with clinical, psychological, and biological indicators recognizable long before the emergence of the full-blown syndromes. Methods: This paper is a selective review of findings from studies of high-risk children of affected parents that inform the knowledge of illness risk and development markers of bipolar disorder. We specifically focus on candidate clinical, biological, and psychological risk indicators that could serve as targets for future early intervention and prevention studies. Results: There is convergent evidence from prospective studies that bipolar disorder typically debuts as depressive episodes after puberty. In some high-risk children, sleep and anxiety disorders precede mood disorders by several years and reflect an increased vulnerability. An association between early exposure to adversity (eg, exposure to parental illness, neglect from mother) and increased risk of psychopathology may be mediated through increased stress reactivity evident at both behavioral and biological levels. Inter-related psychological processes including reward sensitivity, unstable self-esteem, rumination, and positive self-appraisal are risk factors for mood disorders. Disturbances in circadian rhythm and immune dysfunction are associated with mood disorders and may be vulnerability markers influenced by these other risk factors. Conclusions: There is accruing evidence of a number of measurable and potentially modifiable markers of vulnerability and developing illness in youth at familial risk for bipolar disorder. Longitudinal studies of multiple biological and psychological risk processes in high-risk offspring, both individually and together, will improve our understanding of illness onset and lead to the development of specific early interventions

Prevalence and microbial ecology of Enterobacteriaceae on Texas produce and the survival of Salmonella on parsley as affected by processing and storage

To assess the risk factors involved in the contamination of fresh produce with human pathogenic organisms, a total of 1,257 samples were collected from cantaloupe, oranges, and parsley in the field and after processing, and the environment. Samples were collected twice in a season from two farms with operating packing sheds per commodity and analyzed for the presence of Salmonella. Sixteen, 6, and 3 isolates were obtained from irrigation water, packing shed equipment, and washed cantaloupe, respectively. Salmonella was not detected on oranges or parsley. Serotyping, pulsed-field gel electrophoresis, and repetitive sequence-based polymerase chain reaction assays were applied to Salmonella isolates to evaluate their genetic diversity and to determine if there are relationships between sources of contamination. Using PFGE, all Salmonella isolates obtained from irrigation water and equipment were determined to be different from cantaloupe isolates. Only one equipment isolate was related to isolates from irrigation water. Rep-PCR demonstrated some similarity between equipment and cantaloupe isolates, but this technique is less discriminatory. DNA fingerprinting did not conclusively determine relationships between sources of contamination. Isolates were also subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing using the disk diffusion method. Five out of 25 of the isolates demonstrated intermediate sensitivity to streptomycin and one isolate was resistant to streptomycin. Green fluorescent protein was an effective marker system when monitoring the survival of Salmonella on parsley as affected by processing. Dip temperature had little effect on the attachment and survival of Salmonella on parsley. Regardless of the temperature or duration of dip, Salmonella were internalized. Immersion for longer times resulted in higher numbers of attached and internalized cells. Microscopic observations agreed with these results and showed Salmonella near the stomata and within cuticle cracks. Salmonella increased over 7 storage days at 25??C and decreased at 4??C. After 7 days at 4??C, no internalized Salmonella were detected. Examination of the native microflora of parsley showed that bacterial populations were similar for parsley collected in the field and packing shed. Higher bacterial populations and fungi were observed at retail with Pseudomonas the predominant organism. Parsley supports the growth of a diverse group of microorganisms

The formation, stability, and suitability of n-type junctions in germanium formed by solid phase epitaxial recrystallization

Design and optimization of n-type doped regions in germanium by solid phase epitaxial recrystallization (SPER) have been studied by the authors. A systematic study is presented of process variables that influence activation and thermal stability, including preamorphization, coimplants, recrystallization temperature, and postrecrystallization thermal treatments. Unlike silicon, activation after recrystallization in germanium is not optimum where the postrecrystallization thermal budget is kept to a minimum. With the aid of modeling, a maximum peak activation of 7 X 10(19) cm(-3) was extracted. A steady increase in sheet resistance during postrecrystallization anneals confirms the formation of metastable activation by SPER. It is predicted that active concentrations of 6-8 X 10(19) cm(-3) are sufficient to meet targets for sub-20 nm technologies. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. (doi: 10.1063/1.3452345

Consensus on nomenclature for clinical staging models in bipolar disorder : a narrative review from the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) Staging Task Force

Objectives: Clinical staging is widely used in medicine to map disease progression, inform prognosis, and guide treatment decisions; in psychiatry, however, staging remains a hypothetical construct. To facilitate future research in bipolar disorders (BD), a well-defined nomenclature is needed, especially since diagnosis is often imprecise with blurred boundaries, and a full understanding of pathophysiology is lacking. Methods: Under the auspices of the International Society of Bipolar Disorders, a Task Force of international experts was convened to review, discuss, and integrate findings from the scientific literature relevant to the development of a consensus staging model and standardize a terminology that could be used to advance future research including staging of BD and related disorders. Results: Consensus opinion and areas of uncertainty or difference were identified in regard to terms referring to staging as it may apply to BD, to at-risk status and subthreshold stages, and to various clinical stages of BD as it is currently diagnosed. Conclusion: The use of a standardized nomenclature about the clinical stages of BD will facilitate communication about research on clinical and pathological components of this heterogeneous group of disorders. The concepts presented are based on current evidence, but the template provided allows for further refinements as etiological advances come to light

The association between self-reported and clinically determined hypomanic symptoms and the onset of major mood disorders

BACKGROUND Hypomanic symptoms may be a useful predictor of mood disorder among young people at high risk for bipolar disorder. AIMS To determine whether hypomanic symptoms differentiate offspring of parents with bipolar disorder (high risk) and offspring of well parents (control) and predict the development of mood episodes. METHOD High-risk and control offspring were prospectively assessed using semi-structured clinical interviews annually and completed the Hypomania Checklist-32 Revised (HCL-32). Clinically significant sub-threshold hypomanic symptoms (CSHS) were coded. RESULTS HCL-32 total and active or elated scores were higher in control compared with high-risk offspring, whereas 14% of high-risk and 0% of control offspring had CSHS. High-risk offspring with CSHS had a fivefold increased risk of developing recurrent major depression (P=0.0002). The median onset of CSHS in high-risk offspring was 16.4 (6-31) years and was before the onset of major mood episodes. CONCLUSIONS CSHS are precursors to major mood episodes in high-risk offspring and could identify individuals at ultra-high risk for developing bipolar disorder. DECLARATION OF INTEREST None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2017. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) license